Chris Sutton questions Chelsea’s decision to sign Alvaro Morata
The Chelsea legend questions the defending champions' decision to sign Alvaro Morata to replace Diego Costa
Chris Sutton has questioned Chelsea’s decision to sign Alvaro Morata to replace Diego Costa.
The defending Premier League champions signed Morata in a £58m deal from La Liga giants Real Madrid in the summer transfer window following their title success.
Diego Costa was frozen out at the title holders despite scoring 20 times in Chelsea’s title-winning campaign in their first season under Antonio Conte.
The Blues signing scored six times in seven appearances in the Premier League so far this season to hit the ground running in the Premier League.
Morata suffered a hamstring injury during Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Premier League leaders Manchester City in their final game before the international break.
The Spain international won the Serie A title twice with Juventus before he returned to Real Madrid and won La Liga and the Champions League.
Former Chelsea striker Sutton has questioned the defending champions’ decision to sign Morata in the summer transfer window.
“They replaced a reliable centre forward in Diego Costa with a striker in Alvaro Morata who has ability but has not yet gone the distance in a league campaign,” Sutton told the Daily Mail.
“Just look at the number of league games Morata has started in the last four seasons: 14 at Real Madrid last season, 16 for Juventus the year before, 11 in 2014-15 and three for Madrid in 2013-14.
“Could Antonio Conte really expect Morata to start 30 games — especially given the demands of the Premier League? And if he did not, then why didn’t he buy an upgrade on Michy Batshuayi?””
Chelsea have won the Premier League title in two of the past three seasons under Jose Mourinho and then Conte.
The Blues haven’t won the Champions League crown since 2012 but their Italian coach will be desperate to win the competition for the first time.
